Attachment for filing drawers



2 Sheets-.Sheat 1 Jan. 14, 1930. `R. H CHARLTON ATTACHMENT FOR FILING DRAwERs med Feb. 2o, 1929 @www Patented Jan. 14, 1930 omi-ED STATES PATENT rica ROY H. CHARLTON, F BELMONT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 FILING EQUIPMENT BUREAU, INCORPORATED, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAS- SACHUSETTS ATTACHMENT FOR FILING DRAWERS Application led February 20, 1929. Serial No. 341,343.

This invention relates to filing devices such as drawers or trays for use in vertical filing systems, and pertains more particularly to means adapted to be removably attached to a filing drawer or boX for holding the indexed cards, sheets or folders in an upright position and for facilitating the inspection of the filed contents and the removal of the same from the drawer. The subject matter hereinafter particularly described and claimed constitutes an improvement upon the devices disclosed and the inventions claimed in my copending application for filing devices, Serial No. 212,794, tiled August 13, 1927.

In said copending application I have illustrated and described an attachment mounted upon the side walls of a filing drawer and comprising essentially guide members eX- tending lengthwise of the drawer at each side, panel-supporting members or riders slidably mounted for movement longitudinally of the guide members, transverse panels or partition members removably carried between opposite riders or slides, and spring members on the guides and bearing against the slides to permit independent lengthwise movement of the slides, but to restrain said movement so'that the panels are normally supported in spaced parallel relation transversely of the drawer.

Vhile the devices shown and described in said application satisfactorily perform their intended functions and constitute meritorious advances in the art of vertical filing, the apparatus embodying the present invention is a distinct and desirable improvement uponv the former structures, particularly in its simplicity of construction and assemblage, and its adaptability for ready attachment, without the use of screws, bolts or similar fastenings, upon filing drawers or trays. It is a particular feature of the improved device that the assembly may be manufactured in a relatively small number of sizes for part-icular types of filing drawers and that an attachment having a selected size may be properly fitted to all drawers of the same general size n irrespective of slight variation in the lengths of drawers made by different manufacturers.

The accompanying-#drawings illustrate a recommended embodiment of the present invention with optional variations in structure to permit attachment of the assembly upon slightly different types of filing drawers. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one type of drawer equipped with the improved attachment;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with the drawer shown in broken lines;

Fig. 3V is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged fragmentary sections on the lines 4 4, 5 5 and 6-6 respectively of Fig. 2; and y Fig. 7 is a sectional view looking toward the forward end of another type of drawer, showing a modified form of connection at the front of the attachment.

The improved device may be applied to any style of filing drawer havingthe customary side walls u on which the assembly supports are prefera ly mounted, and in one of its recommended forms is especially adapted to the type of sheet-metal drawer shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the front end 8 of the drawer is provided with rearwardly projecting, vertical iins 9. Such a drawer 'customarily has side walls 10 formed with a rolled-over upper edge 11, and a rear wall 12,l usually lower than the front wall.

The assembled attachment for a drawer of this type (Figs. 1 to 6) preferably comprises a pair of vertically spaced guide rails 13 mounted above each side wall 10 and extending lengthwise of the drawer substantially in Hthe plane of said walls rail supports 14 at the front and 15 at the rear Vof the drawer, each having a pair of sleeves 16 and 17, respec-l tively, receiving vthe front and rear ends' of the guide rods y13, and preferably having flanges 18 and. 19 respectively resting upon the doubled upper edges 11 of the side walls 10; panel-supporting members or slides'20 mounted on the respective pairs of guide members, each slide or rider having upper and lower sleeve portions 21 receiving the guide rods 13, whereby the riders may slide longitudinally along the guides, and preferably having'longitudinally spaced, vertical slots 22 disposed between the sleeves 21; transverse panels 23 for dividing the drawer space into several compartments, each panel having side wings 24 removably received within corresponding slots 22 of opposite slides 20 to support the panel or partition within the drawer; and springs 25 surrounding a guide rod of each pair and having their ends normally bearing directly or indirectly against the opposite ends of the slides to restrain sliding movement thereof, so that the panels 23 are normally supported in spaced parallel relation. Filed cards, sheets or folders placed within the drawer will accordingly be maintained in upright position by the-flexibly mounted'panels defining the respective drawer compartments, and the compartments are capable of ready expansion or contraction when it is desired to inspect the `filed subject matter or to insert or remove metal rods, and the rail supports 14 and 15 preferably consist of metal plates riveted or otherwise securely fastened together as at 26, the outer of said plates being shaped to form the sleeves 1G or 17 and the bottom flange 18 or 19. rlhe sleeves of one pair at least of said supports, for example the supports 15, are preferably open at both ends and fit snugly around the rods 13 frictionally to resist relative lengthwise movement between the members, whereby the position of said supports may be adjusted longitudinally according to the length of the drawer; whereas the outer ends of the sleeves 16 of the front supports 14 may b e closed as indicated at 27, if desired.

The forward ends of the two plates 28, 29 (Figs. 5 and 6) constituting each front support 14 may be slightly spread apart toV provide resilient gripping jaws 30 and 31 receiving and frictionally clamping upon the drawer fins 9, removably to secure said supports in position upon the drawer. The outer plates 32 of the rear supports 15 are formed in substantially the same manner as plates 28 to furnish the sleeves 1.7 and the flanged rests 19, the sleeves being open-ended as aforesaid; and the inner plates 33 of said supports extend downwardly to bear against the inner surfaces of the side walls 10, as best shown in Fig. 3. The rearward ends of the plates 33,.

Vby suitable fastening means. Laterally projecting ends of the strips 36 may constitute the panel-supporting wings 24, as shown, and the tips of said wings are'preferably bent transversely, `as indicated at' 37, to prevent accidental removal of the tips from the slide slots 22 as the slides are moved along the guide rods. The wing tips of each panel preferably are bent in opposite directions so that a panel may readily be detached from its supporting slides by swinging it obliquely of the drawer, as indicated by the broken line position 37 of Fig. 1, thereby permitting the wings to be withdrawn from the slots 22,

The springs 25 may be formed of wire coils, and cupped collars .38preferablyV receive the ends of the coils. rl`he spring ends may be secured within the collars 38, and the collars normally bear` against the slides 2O or, at the ends of the assembly, against the rail mountings 14 or 15. Preferably the collars are free to slide independently of the slides 20, so that the springs are not stretched upon extreme movement of the slides.

Fig. 7 illustrates a modified form of construction for mounting the forward end of the attachment upon a drawer or tray of the type having aplain faced front wall 38 withf out project-ing fins. The mounting structure in such case may comprise supports 39 formed substantially as are the rear supports,v l5 0f Figs.` 1 to 6, and resting on the side walls 40 as before; and a spring rod or expander 41 similar to rod 35 and operating in the same manner frictionally to h old the supports 39 in fixed position. In this modification, however, the rod legs preferably extend upwardly through the sleeves of the support, as shown, in order that the lower portion of the legs may also bind against the side walls, with the transverse portion ofthe rod disposed near the bottomof the drawer. Obviously, this form of front mounting may. also be employed with the finned-front type of drawer, and may be used at the .back of the drawer, if desired.

An attachment constructed as abovedescribed is economical to manufacture, simple to assemble and dissemble, as there is no fixed connections between its component members, and easy to mount in properly adj usted position upon a filing drawer, irrespective of its fro:

precise longitudinal dimension; and when so mounted the structure is compact and rigid, does not interfere with filing or limit the tiling space within the drawer, and furnishes flexibly mounted partitions which'may readily be adjusted at the desired longitudinal intervals to support the filed subject matter in vertical position. It will be understood, h owever, that structural details may be varied to suit particular purposes without departing from the essence of this invention as defined in the following claims. 1

I claim:

l. A filing device comprising, in combination with a drawer, guide rails extending longitudinally of the drawer at each side thereof, means for supporting the guide rails upon the walls of the drawer, means cooperating with the supporting means and with the drawer for frictionally retaining the rails in said supported position against casual displacement, slides mounted on said rails and movable longitudinally thereof, a panel for dividing the drawer space carried by opposite slides, and springs on the respective rails adapted to restrain movement of the slides.

2. A ling device comprising, in combination with a drawer, guide rails extending longitudinally of the drawer at each side thereof, supports for the respective ends of therails on the walls of the drawer, resilient means cooperating with said supports and said drawer for frictionally retaining the supports in position, slides mounted on each guide rail for independent longitudinal movement, panels for dividing the drawer space supported between opposite slides, and springs carried by the respective rails and bearing on the slides to restrain said movement.

8. A filing device comprising, in 'combination with a drawer, guide rails extending longitudinally of the drawer at each side thereof, supports for the respective ends of the guide rails mounted on the side walls of the drawer, the supports at one end at least of the device being movable along the guide rails and including means for holding the supports in a predetermined position with respect to the rails, slides mounted on each guide rail for independent longitudinal movement, panels for dividing the drawer space supported between opposite slides, and springs carried by the respective rails and bearing on the slides to restrain movement of the slides. v

4. A filing device comprising, in combination with a drawer, guide rails extending longitudinally of the drawer at each side thereof, supports for the respective ends of the rails removably mounted on the side walls of the drawer, means associated with said supports and frictionally engaging the walls of the drawer to hold the supports in position, the supports at one end at least of the device having sleeves frictionally receiving the rails whereby the position of the supports may be adjusted longitudinally of the rails, slides mounted on each guide rail for independent longitudinal movement, panels for dividing the drawer space suspended between opposite slides, and springs mounted on the rods between the slides to restrain movement of the slides. Y

- 5. A ling device comprising, in combination with a drawer, a pair of guide rods extending longitudinally of the drawer in vertically spaced, parallel relationship substantially in the plane of the side walls of the drawer, supporting members removably connected with the respective ends of the guide rods and detachably mounted upon said side walls, the supporting member at the front ends of the guide rods having frictional engagenient with the drawer, an expander rod bearing against the supporting members at the rear end of the guide rods thereby frictionally to hold said members in position against the side walls of the drawer, slidesv mounted forlongitudinal movement upon the respective pairs of guide rods, panels for dividing the drawer space detachably suspended from opposite slides, and springsv mounted upon one rod at least of each pair between said slides to restrain longitudinal movement of the slides.

6. A filing device comprising, in combi-v nation with a drawer, a pair of guide rods eX- tending longitudinally of the drawer in vertically spaced, parallel relationship substantially in the plane of the side walls of the drawer, supports for detachably mounting the frontends of the rods upon said side walls, other supports for the rear ends of the rods, said rear'supports having open-ended sleeves frictionally receiving the rods whereby the position of said supports may be adjusted longitudinally of the rods, and having deico pending portions bearing against the inner Y sides of the respective walls, an expander extending across the drawer and engaging the rear supports to press said depending portions against the walls, thereby frictionally to secure the rear supports in attached position, slides mounted for longitudinal movement upon the respective pairs of guide rods, panels for dividing the drawer space suspended between opposite slides, and springs mounted on one rod at least of each pair to restrain longitudinal movement of the slides. v

the rods whereby the position ofsaid supports may be adjusted longitudinally of the rods, and having depending portions bearing against the inner sides of the respective Walls, an expander extending across the drawer and engaging the rear supports to press said depending portions against the Walls, thereby frietionally to secure the rear supports in attached position, slides mounted for longitudinal movement upon the respective pairs of guide rods, panels for dividing the drawer spacersuspended between opposite slides, and springs mounted on one rod atleast of each pair to restrain longitudinal movement of the slides,

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 14th day of; February, 1929.

, ROY H. CHARLTON. 

